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NEWSLETTER

In an effort to alleviate the plight of the impoverished and marginalized Hai//om communities
Jan Tsumib (who is himself a Hai//om with the other applicants) has asked the court to allow the
Hai//om people to come to court with one voice to make a claim to benefit from the natural
resources that were taken from the Hai//om people by the pre-independence governments of
Namibia. Jan Tsumib and the other applicants will represent the interests of all the Hai//om
people who want the resources restored to them. Because the case involves the Etosha
National Park and the Mangetti West lands at FarmSix, the Government of Namibia is
concerned that the money that it gets from Tourism will stop flowing to it and that it is in the
national interest to prevent the Hai//om people from claiming what is theirs. The application is
being opposed by the Government. The Chief who was appointed by the Government for the
Hai//om people has also decided that he will not support the claim of the Hai//om people
because he is worried that the Government will punish him if he supports the claim. He says
that he is a royal supreme ruler of the Hai//om and only he can make such a claim. He says no
Hai//om can do this without his permission. The constitution of Namibia says that any person
can make a claim and they do not need to first ask the Supreme Chief of the Hai//om. Already a
lot of work has gone into this application for about five years and it is supported by more than
three thousand Hai//om people so far. These people have signed a list to tell the court that they
agree and will support this application. Jan Tsumib and the Other Applicants and also other
members of the Hai//om people asked the Legal Assistance Centre to help them make this
case. This means that the Legal Assistance Centre has been appointed by the Hai//om
applicants to be their lawyers. The Legal Assistance Centre is assisted by other Legal Firms
such as the Legal Resources Centre which has a lot of experience in Human Rights law to help
with this case because it is very complicated and it is also very expensive to make a case like
this. The Legal Assistance Centre has to pay advocates and other support staff and get experts
to help make the case ready for the court to hear it. It has to pay for costs of petrol and travel
for meetings with the community and it also often has to pay the members of the community for
their travelling costs, accommodation and food when the community meetings are held because
it is the community that is working very hard with the applicants to make sure that this case is
properly heard by the High Court in Windhoek. So far the Government and the Chief have
explained to the Court that they are not happy with this case and say that the Hai//om people
should not be allowed the opportunity to bring this case in the courts. The Applicants are
allowed to reply to the complaints of the Government and the Chief and they are busy preparing
their reply with the help of the general Hai//om community. It will be very helpful if all of those
people of the Hai//om sign the list and support this application. If they do not want to, that is
also alright. The Applicants say that the Hai//om people remain poor and have no future
prospects of developing because their land was taken from them and other people are
benefitting from it but not the Hai//om people. Sometimes people from the Chief say that the
applicants are doing illegal things by bringing this case. This is not true because everybody in
Namibia is equal in the eyes of the law and the Constitution of Namibia, which is the highest law
of the country, guarantees the right of all people in Namibia to have their civil cases heard in a
court. The Courts are not part of the government of Namibia and are there to protect the rights
of all people. If you want to know more about this case you can contact any of the applicants or
the Legal Assistance Centre who will be happy to share all of the information with you.

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